Freaks and Geeks

Arguably, F&G was the most influential work of comedy in both TV and the movies. It lasted only one season, but its character-based offbeat humor informed the single-camera comedies that (creatively anyway) dominated sitcoms. And it set the tone for the big-screen comedies through which executive producer Judd Apatow, cast member Seth Rogen et al. would dominate Hollywood. Under it all, though, were 18 episodes (most of them aired in 2000) of a sweet, uncomfortable, and impeccably realized story about growing up awkward in the Midwest. (Unlike many brilliant-but-canceled shows, it managed to end with closure for its central story, the coming-of-age of moody, brainy teen Lindsay Weir.) Like the high-school misfits and burnouts it celebrated, F&G never captured the big prizes, but every episode it aired was a victory.